Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-19187 discloses a connector with a male housing and a female housing connectable to each other. The female housing is provided with a lock arm extending in a front-rear direction along an outer peripheral surface. The lock arm is coupled to the outer peripheral surface of the female housing via a leg at an intermediate position in the front-rear direction. In the process of connecting the housings, the lock arm is pressed by a lock of the male housing to be inclined relative to a support. The lock arm resiliently returns when the housings are connected properly, and the lock of the male housing is fit into a lock hole provided in a front part of the lock arm to be locked. In this way, the housings are held in a connected state. On the other hand, if a releasing portion provided on a rear end part of the lock arm is pressed toward the outer peripheral surface of the female housing, the lock is separated from the loch hole. Thus, the locked state of the lock arm is released and the housings can be pulled apart from each other.
A height reduction of a connector may be required, for example, to prevent the connector installed in a vehicle from interfering with peripheral components. In this case, the height reduction of the connector can be realized by reducing a projecting dimension of a leg of the lock arm projecting from the outer peripheral surface of a female housing. However, if the projecting dimension of the leg is reduced, a height of a releasing space formed between the outer peripheral surface of the housing and a releasing portion also is reduced, thereby causing a problem that a releasing operation is difficult.
The invention was completed on the basis of the above situation and aims to improve releasing operability of a connector while achieving a height reduction.